Seasons: A Year OF Movies

Seasons: A Year Of Movies is a (mostly) weekly podcast where Emma Ramirez and Jacob Benfell talk about a series of films for each season of the year. The movies can be directly connected (a franchise, a director/writer/whatever’s filmography) or loosely connected (a thematic through-line.) We alternate picking the season’s theme, so the movies will be as varied as our thoughts are. We’ll explore why we watch the movies we do when we do, how context changes our understanding of art, geek out, and occasionally get into fights. Accompany us through the changing times of the year.

Recent Episodes

In which we discuss this nearly perfect film about growing up, being awkward, and the simple joy of creativity. We talk over the film’s intimate cinematography, its moments of total euphoria, and its quiet honesty. We get off on a tangent about Whiplash, La La Land, and music movies obsession with excellence, but then wrap it back to how We Are The Best Subverts these things. We also answer a few questions about Star Wars at the end.

In which Emma and Jacob get way too deep on Walter Mitty’s depiction of art, labor, its surprisingly inoffensive showing of other cultures, its obnoxious product placement, and its melancholic core. A surprisingly thoughtful episode about a surprisingly thoughtful movie (that probably still doesn’t deserve the amount of time we spent on it tbh).

This month we’re talking about some of our favorite movies that the other host hasn’t seen. For this episode, Jacob introduces Emma to 1987’s Wings of Desire, a movie about angels in Berlin falling in love. We explore the movie’s profound rejoicing in the physical experience of life, its marvelous portrait of urban life, as well as its complex gender politics and moments of warm humor. Next week, we’ll talk 2013’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

In this episode, named only for convenience and stubbornness, Emma and Jacob talk through their newly formed Star Wars rankings, and their plans for the rest of the year. Just a bite-sized pod until we start talking about our favorite movies later this month. Here is the schedule for the rest of the year. It will be more fully updated soon!